alarum (2009-10-06)

Part of Speech: noun

Pronunciation: [ê-'lah(r)m]

Definition: (1) A sudden shock caused by the realization of approaching danger. (2) A warning of approaching danger. (3) A mechanism that sounds a warning, such as a clock alarum.

Usage: The most common alarum is the one that reminds us another day has opened shop: "Burnham Goode has developed such a resistance to the sound of clock alarums that it is difficult to judge when he might arrive at work." The verb (only spelled "alarm") implies the reaction to something upsetting: "My English teacher was alarmed at my spelling of 'alarum.'"

Suggested Usage: Of course, today's word is simply a poetic variant of "alarm," used mostly for rhetorical effect. "Alarm" itself doesn't have a very large family but it also serves as a verb which provides an adjective "alarming" and an adverb "alarmingly." The verb means "to suddenly frighten," as smoke coming from under the hood of a car would certainly alarm anyone.

Etymology: Today's word is a variant of the original "alarm," resulting from misperception of the trilling of the [r], now preserved only in some dialects of Scots English. The original "alarm," however, comes from Old Italian allarme, a reduction of the interjection all'arme "To arms!" This phrase is a contraction of a "to," la "the," and arme "arms." Italian "arme" descended from Latin arma "tools, (military) arms" and not armus "upper arm." However, it is easy to see that both words go back to the same root, *ar- "to fit together."